Shower-bath distributor valve



JACQUES-ALBERT DEPORT SHOWER-BATH DISTRIBUTOR VALVE Filed March 20, 1956July 22, 1958 I v l3 LI/5Z9 5y 9 y W ATTORNEY United States PatentSHOWER-BATH DISTRIBUTOR VALVE Jacques-Albert Depart, Paris, FranceApplication March 2117, 1956, Serial No. 572,756 Claims priority,application France March 22, 1955 1 Claim. (Cl. 299-84) The presentinvention has for its object a distributor device which is applicable toshower-bath installations of the kind referred to in Patent No.2,672,366.

The distributor in accordance with the invention comprises a valveinterposed on each of the pipes. which supply respectively emulsion andclean water, and is characterised in that these valves are actuated by arotary cam rigidly fixed to a hand-lever within the reach of the user. Afurther feature consists in that the profile of the cam is such that thehand lever can be left for as long a time as desired in the showerposition, that is to say supply of clear water, whilst if this handlever is brought into the emulsion position, it is automatically broughtback to the stop position as soon as it is released, in order to avoidexcessive consumption of the soap solution.

A distributor device for shower-baths, improved in this manner, is shownby way of example in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in longitudinal cross-section taken along the line IIof Fig. 3.

Fig. 2 is the corresponding view in plan.

Fig. 3 is a view in cross-section taken along the line III--III of Fig.1.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic illustration of the development of the controlcam.

The distributor device comprises a chamber 1 for the admission of thewater, two outgoing pipes 2 and 3 leading to the shower-rose, a pipe 4leading into the pipe 3 for the admission of soap solution.

The admission of each of the conduits 2 and 3 is controlled respectivelyby the valves 5 and 6 which are held applied against their seatings bymeans of the springs 7 and 8; the valve 5 controls the admission of purewater to the pipe 2 and the valve 6 the admission of water in whichthere has been emulsified the soap composition solution which isadmitted from an ejector into the pipe 4 and is carried away by the flowof water in the pipe 3, in which pipe the ejector effect is obtained bythe difference in internal diameter between the said pipe 3 and thenozzle 3a.

This ejector effect is important since it makes it possible to place thesoap composition reservoir at any desired level, even below thelevel ofthe distributor valve.

The actuation of these valves is carried out by means of a cam 9 keyedon the shaft 10 of a hand lever 11 which is brought by the user, byrotation, opposite one of the indications Shower, Stop, Lather marked ona dial 12. The cam 9 has two sloping faces 13 and 14 which actrespectively on the spindles 15 and 16 of the valves 5 and 6, againstthe action of the springs 7 and 8. As shown in Fig. 4, the profile ofthe working surface 13 is such that in the Shower position, the spindle15 of the valve 5 passes over this surface and comes at 15a into contactwith a flat face of the cam,

in such manner that the position of the lever handle is stable and thusthe clear Water can continue to flow as long as the user does not bringback the hand lever to the Stop position; on the other hand, in theLather" position, the spindle 16 of the valve 6 remains in contact atthe position 16a with the sloping face 14 and, if the hand lever is thenreleased, the pressure applied by the spindle 16 of the valve 6 willcause the hand lever to rotate towards the Stop position. Thisarrangement prevents waste of the soap composition by ensuring that itssupply is automatically shut-off as soon as the user releases the handlever. I

A safety valve 17 controlled by a spring 18, is preferably mountedinside the pipe 4; this valve is provided with the object of preventingback-flow of the water delivered by the pipe 2, through the pipe 3towards the reservoir of soap composition, in the case in which the flowof water is restricted for any particular reason (furl-ing or blockingof the pipes, etc.).

The invention is also held to cover the possibility of controlling thesafety valve 17 by the actual operation of the lever handle 11 of thedistributor valve, the said safety valve being normally closed and onlybeing opened by the eifect of the action of admitting water to the pipe3.

What I claim is:

A shower-bath apparatus, comprising: a distributor valve having :a wateradmission chamber connectible to a water supply pipe, and twodistribution channels, one of said channels at its inner end having aportion of narrow cross-sectional area, followed by a'flared,frustoconical portion; an admission pipe for delivering soap into saidfrusto-conical portion; a check valve in said admission pipe forpreventing flow of liquids outwardly therethrough; a pair of valves,each valve having an actuating stem, one valve controlling communicationbetween said chamber, and said one channel, the other valve controllingcommunication between said chamber and the other channel; a rotatableactuating lever movable into two terminal positions and an intermediateposition; a cam disc having a face bearing against said valve stems foractuation thereof, said face having a raised planar portionperpendicular to the axis of rotation thereof for hearing against thestem of said other valve, said face also having a portion sloping awaytherefrom for bearing against the stem of said one valve, said cam discin the intermediate position of said actuating lever having its facebearing against said stems and permitting both of said valves to close,said cam disc in one terminal position of said actuating lever havingits raised planar portion engaging the stem of said other valve, wherebysaid other valve is opened to permit flow of water through said otherchannel, said cam disc in the other terminal position of said actuatinglever having its sloping portion engaging the stem of said one valve,whereby said one valve is opened to admit Water to said one channel,whereby soap is aspirated into said one channel and is mixed with water,said one valve being in an unstable condition when open so that it isautomatically urged to return to a closed condition, and said othervalve being in a stable condition when open.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,095,003 Leonard Apr. 28, 1914 1,690,767 Bloch Nov. 6, 1928 2,233,965Strovink Mar. 4, 1941 2,403,611 Ray July 9, 1946 2,735,447 Ray Feb. 21,1956

